Rominger Praises Meat Inspection Bill

April 7, 2000

Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Richard Rominger believes a bill to allow interstate shipment of state-inspected meat "solves the perennial question of how to level the playing field for the small and very small state-inspected meat and poultry processing plants." States would be able to use their own inspection marks, but they must adopt and enforce federal inspection laws and regulations and use the federal inspection mark as well.

Consumers, small processors and small producers will benefit under the bill, he told the Senate Agriculture Committee Thursday. Small plants that produce for niche markets will be able to reach new markets and use mail order and e-commerce outlets for their products, he said. Consumers would be able to enjoy a greater variety of meat and poultry products. Small producers will have more local plant options for delivering their animals. Even the large, federally inspected plants will benefit, because they often supply small and very small state plants that buy and add value to their products, Rominger said.

The bill also would increase the federal reimbursement to states for up to 60% of the cost of operating a state program. Now, USDA will reimburse a state for only up to 50% of program costs.

Harry Pearson, president, Indiana Farm Bureau Federation, told the committee allowing interstate movement of state-inspected meats would benefit livestock producers by creating more competition among packers and processors "thereby increasing the opportunities to market their animals."

However, the American Meat Institute was not as pleased. AMI President and CEO J. Patrick Boyle told the committee it is the institute’s "firm belief in the need for a single, uniform, seamless system for oversight" of meat and poultry plants that prompts opposition to the bill unless changes are made.

To be truly uniform, Boyle added, state plants must meet the same requirements the federal government imposes, "and the bill should explicitly state this." States should not be permitted to set regulatory requirements that are different from or in addition to the federal requirements, he said. "National uniformity should also be exercised with respect to thresholds for entry into the state inspection system. The bill would let each state set its own threshold; we believe there should be a uniform threshold, " Boyle said.